Nadine Dorries has been a devout ally of Boris Johnson ever since she was appointed to cabinet – and this week is no different.
The culture secretary confidently claimed a successful vote of no confidence in the prime minister’s leadership was “never going to happen”, even as uneasiness in the Tory leader grows among the backbenchers.
She told Sky News on Tuesday evening that Johnson can continue to command the public’s trust, despite the ongoing turmoil within Tory ranks.
It came No.10′s ethics chief, Lord Geidt, questioned if the prime minister had broken the ministerial code himself as he received a fixed penalty notice for attending a lockdown party.
Dorries explained: ″There has been an investigation via the Met Police, the prime minister has been to the House of Commons, he has apologised, humbly apologised, he has accepted the lessons that need to be learnt from the Sue Gray report, he has implemented most of the recommendations – and he has not misled the House of Commons.
“So yes, absolutely, the prime minister can survive.”
Addressing the Tory MPs who have publicly criticised Johnson, she said: “Look, 180 MPs are what would be needed to secure a vote of no confidence in the prime minister. That is never going to happen.”
To successfully oust a prime minister, at least 15% of the sitting MPs in the leading party have to submit a letter of no confidence. In the case of the current sitting government, 54 letters from Tory MPs would have to be submitted to backbench chief, Sir Graham Brady.
If that threshold is met, every MP in the Conservative Party would hold a vote of no confidence in Johnson. More than 50% of them would need to agree that the prime minister to go for the no confidence motion to go ahead.
However, Dorries dismissed the senior Tories, such as former leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom and former Conservative leader William Hague who have voiced their frustration about the prime minister.
She said their complaints were “disappointing” but added Johnson still has “the confidence of the country”.
Dorries continued: “I think there’s a concerted effort to attempt to remove the prime minister for a number of reasons, but I do think it’s disappointing. I think people should get behind the prime minister!
“People don’t vote for divided parties.”
She then said No.10 has been “getting the big issues right” including the vaccine programme and Brexit, so people need to “help him continue to deliver”.